


the last of the real ones

by my_cabbagessss



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbender Zuko (Avatar), Airbending & Airbenders, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Child Abuse, Fire Nation Royal Family, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Northern Air Temple, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Sailing, Western Air Temple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26638384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_cabbagessss/pseuds/my_cabbagessss
Summary: Airbender!Zuko AURoku's wife, Ta Min, was an airbender. Her genes took generations to resurface, but when Ursa has her first child, he is an airbender. No one knows except for Zuko, and he plans on keeping it a secret for all of his life. Though, plans don't always work out and when his mother disappears and he gets burned and banished two years after that, Zuko's life is turned upside down.Massive canon rewrite with an airbending Zuko going through the events that took place in the show, with sporadic updates while the author tries to have a schedule.
Comments: 53
Kudos: 203





	1. desparate for some kind of clue, when the scale tipped, when you inherited a fight that you were born to lose

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by sokka-with-his-hair-down's post here: https://sokka-with-his-hair-down.tumblr.com/post/627995959348150272/obscure-but-i-hc-that-rokus-wife-ta-min-is-an
> 
> The chapter title is from Heirloom by Sleeping at Last

Zuko remembers the first time he consciously airbent. Looking back, the gusts of wind that would seem to come from nowhere, but were small enough to not question should have clued him in on his ability, but they didn’t. 

Azula had been taunting him about not being able to firebend, telling him that she should be the eldest child because she was born with a fire inside her. Their mother hadn’t been around watching them that day, so she wasn’t there to chastise Azula for her words. 

Zuko had run to his room, leaving his sister in the gardens to play by herself. When he closed the elaborate door, he took one of the stances he saw Azula take when she would firebend, he thinks it was called a fire fist or something, and punches his right hand into the air. 

The trinkets he has lined on the shelf in front of him fall off, crashing onto the hard ground. Zuko tries again, this time aiming towards his bed, and the drapes and blankets blow off of it. 

Zuko takes a seat on his bed, staring at the hand that controlled the air in his room, manipulating it to his will. He thinks back to the lessons he had on his great-grandfather’s attack and subsequent wipe-out of the Air Nomads. He thinks of when Azula mentioned the attack, their father had told her that what Sozin did was revolutionary, and that it was the first step in bringing the Fire Nation’s genius to the rest of the nations. Zuko summons a whirlwind of air that sits in the palm of his hand, he twists the fingers of his other hand around the mini-tornado before ceasing the movements and letting it dissipate. 

The full weight of what he can do settles onto his shoulders, and he realizes that if anyone knew, he might be considered an enemy of the Fire Nation. Zuko promises to himself that he’ll never tell anyone about this, because they might kill him. He’s not supposed to be alive anyways, the bending ability he possesses got wiped out decades and decades ago. 

And, Zuko reasons, he’ll never be on the throne anyways, and neither will any airbending children he might have. After Fire Lord Azulon dies, the throne will go to Uncle Iroh, then Lu Ten and his future heirs will have the throne. Ozai, Zuko, and Azula will have diplomatic duties, go into military work, or anything that is fit for Fire Nation royalty. 

Oh, how wrong Zuko was that day. 

* * *

Years later, Zuko thinks about telling his cousin Lu Ten. He’ll be going off to Ba Sing Se to help Uncle Iroh with the Siege of Ba Sing Se. Zuko doesn’t, but the week before they’re set to go that is full of preparations, Zuko wears a puzzled and contemplative expression on his face. 

The night before they say their goodbyes, Zuko finally comes to the conclusion that, as future Fire Lord, Lu Ten would have to kill Zuko, as to not disgrace Great-Grandfather Sozin’s revolutionary work of spreading Fire Nation ideals and innovations. 

The morning that Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten leave, along with several ships full of troops, Zuko has a melancholic attitude, though his family thinks that he’s just sad about his cousin leaving. In all actuality, Zuko thinks about how, if anyone in this room knew that he could bend air, they would kill him, or have someone else do it. 

Zuko watches the fleet of ships sail away from the windows in his room, and thinks of how his secret might have been sailing away on one of those ships, but isn’t. Everytime a letter comes back to the palace, from Uncle Iroh or Lu Ten, Zuko thinks of the jolt of anxiety he would have been getting if he had told his cousin. 

Close to two years after he watched the fleet sail away, the news of Lu Ten’s death makes it back to the palace. 

That day in the garden when his mother receives the letter, Zuko doesn’t know how to feel. He’s sad, obviously, he was somewhat close to his cousin, but he can’t help but to wonder if he would be feeling relief right now if he had revealed his secret to Lu Ten. 

Zuko doesn’t like thinking about that, he feels like it's something that Azula might think. He leaves the garden, pushing those thoughts from his mind. 

* * *

A week or so after that, Azula tells him that Iroh is abandoning the Siege and coming back to the palace. He doesn’t understand why Azula doesn’t get that Uncle Iroh is just sad about his son, wouldn’t she want their father to do the same for her? 

Just as he contemplates that, his mother walks into the room in a rush, tells them that Father has requested an audience with Fire Lord Azulon and to get into their best clothes. 

After Zuko gets changed into more formal clothes, he walks into the Fire Lord’s chamber with his family. The four of them sit on the ground in front of the wall of flames after bowing respectfully. 

Ozai suggests that Zuko and Azula show what knowledge of the history of the Fire Nation the two of them have learned. He asks several questions, neither of them getting anything wrong. 

“And how was it Great-Grandfather Sozin managed to win the Battle of Han Tui?” Ozai asks Zuko.

Zuko doesn’t know, he stutters out the beginning of a response, but can’t finish it. Azula finishes it for him. She recites the words from their history books, earning the praise of her father, though Azulon doesn’t seem impressed. 

Ozai sees that, and suggests that Azula show her grandfather the firebending routines she’s been learning. She goes through the motions like a dance, executing them perfectly and without fault. The bursts of flame she releases are periodic and impeccable. 

Zuko sits and watches. He thinks that he could do the same routine, bending air in gushes beautifully, disturbing the fire between him and Azulon, instead of adding to them as Azula did. 

He's broken out of his thoughts by Azulon’s sudden outburst. He asks Ozai outright about what he actually came for, and orders everyone else out of the room.

As they leave, Azula grabs Zuko’s wrist and pulls him behind the curtain that covers the walls. Their mother walks on, blissfully unaware that her two children are listening to the Fire Lord’s conversation. 

Brother and sister reach an opening in the curtain, and Azula stops and opens it slightly. Ozai starts to talk, explaining his argument. He talks about the death of Lu Ten, Iroh’s abandonment of the Siege, and he lays the foundation of his case for being the next Fire Lord. 

Azulon is impatient with Ozai, Zuko notices the flames in front of him growing, bending unknowingly to his great-grandfather's will. Azulon snaps at his son, ordering him to just say what it is he wants. 

Ozai does, asking for Azulon to revoke Iroh’s birthright and give him the title of Fire Lord when Azulon dies. 

Azulon’s anger causes the flames in front of him to flare. He yells at his son, telling him that he will be punished for suggesting that he betray Iroh like that, so soon after he lost his only son. 

Frightened, Zuko runs from the chamber and returns to his room. Azula stays, and she hears the rest of the conversation. 

Zuko lay on his bed, catching his breath from his quick run back to his room. Once he feels calm again, he hears the heavy door to his room open. Zuko sits up, looking to the doorway. It’s Azula, a smug smile on her face.

“Dad’s going to kill you~” she practically sings. Turning serious, she says, “Really he is.” 

Zuko laughs, knowing that this is just Azula trying to get under his skin. He denies it. He tries not to think of the circumstances that would lead to those words being true. All the more reason to keep his bending a secret.

Azula relents, telling Zuko to not believe her, but she says that she heard everything. She imitates their grandfather, reiterating the words that condemned Ozai to kill his firstborn son. 

Zuko doesn’t want to believe her, he thought he had prepared himself for the possibility that his secret did get out, but now he knows that he hadn’t. He calls her a liar. Azula doesn’t back down, she taunts him, telling him that she’s only telling him for his own good, and that maybe he can get away and find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt him. 

Zuko snaps at her. He tells her to stop, that she’s a liar, that their father would never do that to him. Even though he would, Zuko thinks, hating the ability he was born with. As he finishes his denial, their mother walks in, hearing the tail end of his words. She asks what Zuko was talking about, and about what was going on. 

Azula plays the innocent, shrugging and telling her mother that she doesn’t know. Ursa sees through it, taking her daughter out of Zuko’s room and bringing her away for a talk. 

Zuko curls up on his bed, and reminds himself that Azula always lies. He thinks that there was no way his grandfather or father would have known his secret, he’s been careful practically his whole life. There’s no way that he’ll die today. 

He falls into uneasy sleep. 

* * *

Hours later, Zuko is awoken by a hand on his shoulder. He sits up fast, not looking at the person who woke him, and starts to get into a defensive position. Then, he sees his mother with a sad look on her face. He doesn’t notice the traveling cloak draped on her shoulders. 

Zuko jumps to conclusions, he thinks that his mother is here to collect him for his execution. He thinks that his family somehow figured out his secret, maybe he wasn’t as careful as he thought he had been. 

Zuko doesn’t know what to say. He settles on, “Mom?”

His mother doesn’t inform him of his impending death, she tells her that he needs to listen to her, that everything she’s done, she's done to protect him. 

Zuko doesn’t understand. He’s accepted that he’ll be dead in a matter of hours, days if he’s lucky. Why doesn’t she just tell him, not tell him that she’s protecting him? 

“I’m an airbender,” Zuko says, not really thinking. He summons a whirlwind in his palm, and his mother gasps. She must think that he might try to escape from his fate, so he reassures her that he’s content with his punishment of death.

A sob comes from Ursa, Zuko doesn’t know what to think. But then she tells him, “Zuko, you’re not dying tonight. Promise me, though, that you’ll never tell anyone else here about your bending.” Zuko nods. “Remember this, Zuko, no matter how things seem to change from now on, remember who you are.” 

She pulls him into a hug and kisses his cheek. Tears run down her face, though, as she leaves the room with that goodbye, she stays silent. 

Zuko is tired, so he sleeps. He’ll think about his mother’s words in the morning.


	2. cerebral thunder and one-way conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from "The Run and Go" by Twenty-One Pilots
> 
> Sorry for the wait. I expected this to be done in a week, and it took me two. I had a lot of schoolwork these past weeks. Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Morning comes, and everything seems to have changed. Azulon had been discovered dead that morning, no one knew where Ursa had gone, and Ozai is to become Fire Lord now because that was Azulon’s dying wish.

When looking for his mother that morning, Zuko comes across Azula with the dagger Iroh gifted him. He asks if she knows where their mother is, but she only responds with what Zuko perceives as untruths—Azula tells him that no one knows where their mother is, and that, by the way, Grandfather had died last night. 

Zuko tells her that she’s not funny, and that she’s sick. He then demands his knife back. He tries to grab it, but Azula is too quick. She moves out of the way, and he misses. 

She taunts him. “Who’s going to make me? _Mom?_ ” His sister dangles the knife in front of herself, and Zuko grabs at it once again, successful this time. He runs from the room. 

Zuko continues to look for his mother, and he checks the place that she was always fond of. Instead of his mother, his father is standing there, gazing into one of the ponds. 

He asks where his mother is, and he doesn’t ever get a response. He starts to think that his secret of airbending is linked to death, that him contemplating telling Lu Ten is what caused him to fall in battle, though that took time. Telling his mother outright led to her being gone in a matter of hours. 

Zuko promises himself that he will never tell anyone his secret, not to the people he cares about, for fear of their untimely deaths, and not to the people he hates, for fear that they will expose him. 

Zuko breaks that promise, but it takes time.

* * *

Zuko is prepared for the burial of his grandfather, and the subsequent crowning of his father. He’s dressed in the finest of his robes, or the finest robes that he currently owned or had access to. The “finest” robes changed everyday it seemed. 

After only one or two hours more of preparation for the funeral and crowning, Zuko walked onto the steps of the Royal Palace with Ozai and Azula. The Fire Sages are there, the High Sage dressed in red and at the front, with the rest wearing white. The audience in front of them are all dressed in red robes. 

The death rites were said, and the coffin made of easily flammable wood was set on fire. The funeral was over, now the new Fire Lord was to be crowned. 

The High Sage announced that, as Azulon’s dying wish, he will be succeeded by his second son. 

“Hail Fire Lord Ozai,” the High Sage shouts, and the audience, the sages, and the now prince and princess of the Fire Nation bow to their new leader. Azula smiles, and Zuko just worries. 

Now, he thinks, now he will sit on the throne someday, and so will his airbending heirs. He’s eleven, and he’s thinking of how that mistake will be fixed. 

He doesn’t have any proposals to fix it, so he resolves to prepare himself completely for the duty he’ll eventually need to do. 

* * *

Two years later, Zuko finds himself outside his father’s throne room/chamber. He’s been readying himself for one day becoming Fire Lord, and has worked with tutors and read countless books about the politics and strategies other Fire Lords have used. 

Right now, he wants to sit in on a war meeting. He just wants to see what he’ll need to do someday, but the guards aren’t letting him in, and the generals just walk past him, as if he weren’t the crown-prince of the Fire Nation. He shouts at the guards to let him in once again, but they don’t make any movement to open the curtains that separate him and the path to leading when he inevitably has to. Zuko has long since resolved to marry a woman from a long, long line of firebenders and present any air bending children as nonbenders, and hope that soon enough the genes will never resurface.

His Uncle comes and tries to discourage him from going to the war meeting. He says that Zuko isn’t missing anything and that the meetings are dreadfully boring. 

But Zuko doesn’t care if they’re boring. He wants to learn as much as he can so he can be as great as any Fire Lord before him. He’ll be presented as the first nonbending Fire Lord, and he’ll have to do his best if he will be on the right side of history. 

Zuko tells his uncle part of his reasoning, tells him that he’ll be Fire Lord someday and he has to start learning what to do.

Maybe Iroh sees his young self in Zuko, sees the same eagerness he once had about being Fire Lord. Or maybe Iroh can’t see the harm in letting his nephew into the meeting. Maybe he’s seen how cautious Zuko is, and assumes that he’ll follow the one rule of etiquette that’s crucially important in the Fire Lord’s chamber. 

So, Iroh tells his nephew that he can sit in on the meeting, but he must promise not to speak. After one more elder general walks by without paying Iroh or Zuko any attention, Iroh tells Zuko that some of the old generals are a bit sensitive. He doesn’t say the truth, doesn’t say what he fears could happen.

The two walk into the meeting together, the guards making way for Iroh. The meeting starts, with Zuko listening intently. 

One of the generals points to a place on a map of the Earth Kingdom, saying that the defenses are concentrated there. He says that a dangerous battalion of their strongest earthbenders and fiercest warriors are there.

He recommends the forty-first division. The new recruits. Men and women of the Fire Nation that are willing to lay down their lives for their country. 

Zuko is confused, why would you send new recruits to battle some of the most experienced soldiers in the Earth Kingdom?

One of the older generals in the room speaks next. He questions how the forty-first is expected to defeat the powerful Earth Kingdom soldiers. 

Zuko guesses the general’s answer before the words leave his mouth. 

He says that he doesn’t expect them to defeat the earthbenders, that they’ll be used as a distraction. Just bodies to throw at the defenses and do away with. 

Zuko can’t take the injustice of it. He stands, forgetting his uncle’s words, and tells the general that he can’t do that. He says that those soldiers love the Fire Nation and that they can’t betray them like that. 

Then his father gets angry. Zuko looks at him with fear a child shouldn’t have in his eyes. He tells his son that what he did warrants an Agni Kai, but as he can’t bend fire, he’ll be punished in a different way for the disrespect he showed. 

Ozai orders Zuko out of the room, tells him to await his punishment in his room. 

Zuko walks from the room after bowing to his father, trying to contain the tears welling in his eyes and the urge to bolt away from the whole Fire Nation. 

* * *

Zuko cries in his room, sometimes screaming his anger at himself, sometimes silently sobbing. 

He’s collapsed on his bed when he hears a knock at the door. He hears a woman call through the door that she has an official message for the prince of the Fire Nation. 

Zuko can’t muster the strength to get up.

The woman says she’ll leave it at the door.

It’s hours later that Zuko goes to his door and receives the roll of paper. It tells him that he needs to report to the Fire Lord’s chamber at sunrise the next morning. 

Zuko is too tired to think and too anxious to sleep. He sits in an armchair facing the floor-to-ceiling windows. 

He waits for sunrise.

* * *

Time seems to go faster at some points and slower at others. He’ll be looking out the window one second and the next the moon will be higher in it’s crescendo across the sky. Then, it will seem like hours pass before the orb moves even an inch. 

Sunrise finally comes. Zuko doesn’t bother changing from the clothes he wore yesterday.

He doesn’t see any of the usual staff milling around, though he guesses that they start working later in the day. He’s never out of his room this early. 

The halls blend together, and Zuko barely notices that he’s outside of the Fire Lord’s chamber. He takes a breath, and goes through the red curtains. 

Ozai isn’t behind the flames, he’s standing stiffly in front of the map of the Earth Kingdom. Zuko makes his presence known by dropping to the ground in a bow and addressing the Fire Lord, not his father.

Ozai takes a moment before telling his son to rise. Zuko does, and he tries not to back away as his father comes towards him. His father tells him that he’s shown disrespect towards the Fire Lord, as he spoke out of turn in _his_ chamber. 

Zuko doesn’t speak, he hasn’t been given permission to. He sees his father’s hand coming towards him, and Zuko has a fleeting thought he’ll take his shoulder in his hand and tell his son that he forgives him and that he just can’t do that again. 

Then reality sets in. His father had never done that before, had barely ever shown affection to him. And the hand goes to his eye and it starts to burn. 

Zuko is shocked. He falls to his knees, and the burn continues. Zuko hears screaming and guesses that it's coming from him. He pleads, pleads with his father, with the Fire Lord, to show him mercy. He begs for him to stop, tells him that he’s sorry, that he’ll never speak out of turn again.

His father doesn’t seem to hear. He’s talking too. Talking of respect, and of honor. He tells Zuko that he is a disgrace. Tells him that he needs to learn respect and that suffering will be his teacher. 

The burn stops hurting, it's like his face has gone numb to the pain. The screaming stops, and so does his father. He grabs Zuko’s forearms with still-burning hands and pushes Zuko away. 

Zuko wimpers on the ground, and his father tells him that he is banished. He says that the only way to regain his honor and return to his birthright is to capture the Avatar. He tells his son that he has until tomorrow to leave.

His father leaves the room, Zuko stays on the cold hard floors of the Fire Lord’s chamber.


	3. i'm a goner, somebody catch my breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "Goner" by Twenty One Pilots
> 
> This chapter is shorter than my previous two, but the next one will be around my usual length. It just felt right to have a chapter break where I ended this one, and the next chapter will be about Zuko and Iroh visiting the Air Temples in search for the Avatar. 
> 
> Enjoy!

When Zuko wakes, he can’t tell where he is. The bed he’s on isn’t his own, it’s not anything like he’s used to. And there’s bandages covering one of his eyes. 

_ Oh.  _ He remembers now, the burn, the screaming, and the banishment. And now, he’s dwelling on what his father meant and his lost honor and- 

_ No.  _ Zuko resolves to dwell on those things later, he needs to figure out where he is first. 

The whole room seems to be swaying, but that might be his mind playing tricks on him. It’s also metal, unlike any room he’s been to in the palace. Zuko sees the door, and he moves towards it. 

As he grabs the handle to the door, Zuko flinches back at the cold of the metal. He’s not used to  _ anything _ being that cold, the temperature in the Fire Nation is anything from comfortably warm to sweltering hot. Even the winters aren’t very cold, the temperature only drops slightly.  Zuko opens the door, this time ready for the cold to bite his bare hands. He’s met with a metal hallway, and he turns right out of the room because that’s where he can hear voices. 

He goes through another door and Zuko finds himself on the deck of one of the Navy’s ships. Why would he be on a ship?

Then, Zuko sees his uncle. He doesn’t know what to think of it all. He’s been banished, so what is his uncle doing anywhere near him now? Iroh must have seen his nephew because he’s walking over. 

Zuko is panicking now. Maybe his father sent his uncle to bring Zuko outside of Fire Nation territory and then finish him off. Brush it off as an accident during his banishment. 

But then Iroh asks Zuko how he’s doing and Zuko just can’t believe that his uncle is plotting to kill him. Zuko doesn’t know how to answer his uncle’s question, so he just shrugs and asks his own. 

“What happened?”

Iroh, understanding the shrug and his nephew’s need for information, leads Zuko over to the Pai Sho table that was set near the edge of the ship.  Zuko starts to protest, saying that he is in no mood to play Pai Sho, and his uncle tells him that they just need someplace to sit. So Zuko sits, and ignores his uncle setting up the tiles on the board. 

Iroh starts at the beginning. He says that after Ozai announced the banishment and dishonor of Zuko, Iroh went to Zuko’s rooms and didn’t find him there. So, he went to the Fire Lord’s chambers and found him on the floor. 

Iroh says that Zuko was in shock, and that he got him onto one of the Fire Navy ships at the docks. After getting bandaged, Zuko fell asleep in a room on the ship. While the crew was preparing the ship to sail, Iroh went back into the palace, told Ozai that he would be accompanying Zuko on his search for the Avatar, and packed clothes for Zuko and himself.

Iroh moves his first tile on the Pai Sho board, and Zuko sighs and moves his. As they play, Zuko contemplates what has happened. 

He thinks of what his father told him, that the only way to regain his honor and return to his birthright is to capture the Avatar. 

And Zuko clings to the chance to regain everything. Zuko reasons that what his father did was necessary, so as to not show favor or weakness to his citizens or the rest of the world. He also reasons that his father wouldn’t have given Zuko the chance to come back if he didn’t actually want Zuko to return. Zuko ignores that he's known he's been a disgrace from the beginning, and he longs to return to his home.

Zuko resolves to prepare himself to face the Avatar every single day of his banishment. 

He asks his uncle where they are going now. Iroh tells him that they are going to Crescent Island to talk with Fire Sages and get anything to help Zuko’s scar to heal. 

Zuko nods to what his uncle is saying, and asks Iroh if the Fire Sages will also have information on the Avatar. His uncle says that they will, but tells Zuko that he should first focus on recovering, then on capturing the Avatar. 

Zuko shouts at his uncle for the first time in his life that day, yelling that he needs to capture the Avatar and that that is the only way for anything to go back to normal. 

Zuko goes back to the room he woke up in after seeing the look on his uncle’s face, that look of disappointment and pity is too much to handle for Zuko. 

He screams in his room, and when his uncle comes knocking, Zuko ignores him. 


	4. you'll have to watch me struggle from several rooms away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from "The Run and Go" by Twenty One Pilots
> 
> It's been awhile, or at least that's how it seems to me. I know I said that this next chapter would be Zuko at the Air Temples, but the Fire Sages kinda just took up a lot of words. So, next chapter will definitely be the Air Temples. 
> 
> Enjoy!

When the ship docked at Crescent Island, Zuko was the first off of it. Iroh came off soon after, and greeted the sages that had come to the docks to greet them. 

Zuko waited impatiently as Iroh explained their situation. He doesn’t say anything against the Fire Lord, as that would be traitorous, but the sages seem to understand. One of them, an older woman, breaks from the group of sages to look at the burnt eye. She invites them to come into the Fire Temple for closer examination and burn salves they have. 

Zuko interjects then, saying that he’ll also need any and all information on the Avatar they have. 

The woman nods, her lips thinning as she adopts a look of determination. 

* * *

On Iroh’s insistence and the sages’ agreement, Zuko’s burn is examined before they start talking of the Avatar. Zuko hopes the examination doesn’t take long, and soon after that they’ll be able to leave with as much information as they can provide.

Once they have Zuko on an examination table, the older woman takes charge of the room and sends any unneeded sage away in an attempt to give Zuko a sense of privacy. Only her and two others, both men, remain, and the woman starts talking. She tells him her name, Ainoma, and that she applauds whoever bandaged the eye. While not perfect, the person definitely had been trained to treat and bandage burns. 

Iroh smiles at her words, and thanks her for the compliment. He says that part of his military training, even as a general, was in treating various types of injuries that were common in war. Iroh says that burns were part of that, though there were never any eye injuries so he had to improvise that part. 

The woman, while gently turning Zuko’s head to look at the injury at different angles, responds to Iroh. She says that though a bit crude, the bandages were well enough to keep out infection up until this point. 

She tells one of the other sages in the room to get her some of the burn salve, and the man is back in what seems like no time at all. She opens the container the salve is in, and sets it next to Zuko on the table. 

Ainoma asks if Zuko wants her to apply the salve to his eye, or if Zuko would like to do it himself. Zuko says that he’ll do it himself, and she nods in understanding. 

She explains how he should do it, that he should avoid the eye itself, and that he should apply it in strokes away from the eye. She says to be gentle, and Zuko wants to retort that he wouldn’t apply it in any other way, but he holds his tongue. This woman has done nothing but help him, and he can’t help to be reminded of his mother, so Zuko just takes her advice. 

When Zuko is done, Ainoma already has clean bandages in her hands. She explains what she’ll do, trying not to alarm Zuko. The bandages are placed over his eye and wrapped around his head to keep in place. Iroh comes closer as the sage does it, memorizing the technique so he can replicate it when the time comes. 

Then, Ainoma says that he’ll never recover full sight from his eye. She says that, in time, he might regain a small amount of sight from it, though it won’t be much, if at all. 

Zuko wants to scream at the sage, though he holds back. He can’t shake the reminder of his mother in Ainoma, and could never stand to yell at her. Zuko responds with a dismissive, “Okay,” and gets off of the table. 

He asks what information they have on the Avatar. Straight to the point. 

Ainoma and the other two sages lead Zuko and Iroh to a library of sorts. There’s an area in the midst of the full shelves for sitting that Ainoma brings them to. Everyone takes their seats, and Ainoma looks to one of the other sages to start talking about what they know of the Avatar. 

The sage introduces himself as Shyu, and launches into what information they have and can give to the two of them. He says that they know that the current Avatar is an Air Nomad, but nothing else. Shyu says that they can give Zuko several books that list and describe what the Avatar is capable of, and they have several scrolls from the Air Nomads that are about Yangchen, the previous Air Avatar. 

Zuko asks if they can pack what they’ll lend them to be brought to his rooms on the ship. Ainoma and Shyu agree, and send the third sage to start arranging that. 

Iroh asks about the searches the other members of the Fire Nation Royal Family have conducted, and if there was anything to learn from them. 

So, Shyu launches into a lengthy explanation of the previous searches with Ainoma adding certain facts that Shyu had forgotten. He starts with Sozin, telling of how, after wiping out the Air Nomads, he came to the sages and discovered that the Air Avatar was still alive. Sozin spent the last years of his life sailing the seas looking for the Avatar, but never found him. Zuko recalled that he had learned that in his Fire Nation history teachings, and it was one of the first lessons taught to him. The information about Sozin made him sound worthy of veneration, that what he did to the Air Nomads was the first influential step the Fire Nation  _ needed _ to take in order to spread their greatness to the rest of the nations. Zuko always thought that what Sozin did in the last years of his life, searching restlessly for the Avatar, had been a noble act. That Sozin had gained even more respect by spending the last of his time in this world trying to find the one threat against the Fire Nation, when he could have easily stayed at the palace and lived in comfort and luxury. 

Now, as Zuko sits in the Fire Sages’ temple, he can’t help but dwell on the ‘what ifs’ of his banishment. What if he never finds the Avatar? Will he lead an unfulfilling life and be omitted or treated dishonourably in Fire Nation history? Zuko doesn’t want that, but he can’t help but think that if Sozin, the man Zuko had thought was without faults, couldn’t find the Avatar, how could he? Was his quest for the Avatar destined to fail?  _ No,  _ Zuko assures himself, Sozin hadn’t had his honour hinging on the capture of the Avatar, and it was a completely different time back then. Surely Zuko will succeed. 

Then, Shyu tells of Azulon’s search. He says that, when Azulon had ascended to the throne, he came to the sages and asked for guidance on finding the Avatar. The sages at that time told him that the Avatar hadn’t been killed in the wipeout of the Air Nomads, and that whoever the Avatar is, they must be in hiding somewhere, just as they told Fire Lord Sozin. Azulon, however, thought that the sages were wrong and that the Air Avatar had been killed along with the rest of the Air Nomads, and that the Avatar had been reborn into the Water Tribes. Azulon determined that the Southern Water Tribe was more vulnerable and easier to attack than its Northern counterpart. Azulon ordered the Southern Raiders to be formed and to periodically capture waterbenders and determine which one, if any, was the Avatar. Zuko takes in what the sage has said, and concludes that he will search the Air Temples first, stopping at the looked-over towns on the coast of the Earth Kingdom along the way to search for the Avatar and to restock their supplies. If they find nothing at the Temples, then they’ll sail to the Southern Water Tribe and look there. Zuko makes a note in his mind to share his plans with his uncle when they’re back on the ship. 

Zuko is jolted from his thoughts at Shyu’s next words. He says that Fire Lord Ozai conducted his own search for the Avatar during his early adulthood, even before he was married. Zuko had a hard time believing this, he had never known about it. Why had his father sent Zuko to complete a task that his father couldn’t do himself? Was his father showing him that he had thought that Zuko was better suited for this job than himself? Zuko doubted that his father would put more faith in his son than himself. Or, had he sent Zuko on a quest that he thought impossible? Zuko tells himself that he can’t afford to go down that pathway of his thoughts, that if he strays too far, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever find his way out of the nasty self-doubt ridden tunnel threateningly close. 

Zuko interrupts Shyu, tells him that he had already known his father’s story of trying to find the Avatar, and that they should really be on their way now. Lots of sea to sail and land to search. 

Ainoma tries to insist that the sages host Zuko, Iroh, and the crew of the ship for a meal before their journey. But Iroh, sensing Zuko’s discomfort at the turn of the conversation onto his brother, agrees with Zuko that they should leave. 

Iroh sends for two members of their crew to come and bring the books and scrolls they’re being lent onto the ship. As they walk back to the docks, Iroh tries to talk to his nephew about Ozai’s search for the Avatar, as he had looked extremely uncomfortable when Shyu talked of it. 

Zuko looks at Iroh incredulously for a second or two, silently willing for Iroh to understand what he’s thinking so he won’t have to say the words aloud. When that doesn’t work, Zuko raises his voice, and, not quite yelling though still hurt and angry, explains that if his father had failed, how can he expect his dishonourable son to succeed. 

Before Iroh could offer words of comfort or wisdom, Zuko storms ahead of him and onto the ship. He takes the books and scrolls from the crew members and goes into his room.

Zuko doesn’t read anything from the sages, just collapses on his bed and cries himself to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The woman Fire Sage, Ainoma, was completely made up. I used a Fire Nation name generator for it, and if there's anything wrong with it, just leave a comment and I'll fix it. 
> 
> Also, the stuff about Sozin's and Azulon's searches for the Avatar are also mostly made up. I thought I read somewhere on the Avatar wiki the details about Azulon's search, but when I checked while I was writing it had nothing, so I have no idea. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	5. does it almost feel like you've been here before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "Pompeii" by Bastille 
> 
> The Western Air Temple! Finally! I can't wait to write the next chapter, since it's the Northern Air Temple and that's where Teo and his dad are, living as refugees. I can't wait for Zuko's reaction to the dad's destruction of the Temple, and I think it'll be interesting to explore his feelings on that.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

During the weeks spent at sea going to the Western Air Temple, Zuko reads the books and scrolls the Fire Sages gave him numerous times. He wants to know what he’ll be facing, so he knows that when he finally meets the Avatar he’ll be as prepared as he can get. 

Along with the reading, Zuko trains with any weapon he can. He practiced with the dao swords he had learned to wield years ago with Master Piandao and the dagger that Iroh had sent him from the war front. Either against other members of the ship crew, or against a stuffed dummy. Zuko also learned and became proficient in hand-to-hand combat, practicing for hours with the crew. 

It was all distraction though, distraction from the inevitable daily firebending training that resulted in Zuko sulking to his room to go over the books he had read countless times before. Iroh noticed, and contemplated what he could do to help his clearly hurting nephew. He couldn’t think of anything that would get through to Zuko, though. 

* * *

When they get to the Western Air Temple, Zuko thinks that they had gone to the wrong place. They docked at the seemingly closest point, and Zuko tells the crew to stay at the ship. Iroh insists on coming with his nephew, and they start the trek across the flat grassland to where the ground drops off. 

After an hour or two of walking, the two arrive at the drop-off. Zuko fastens a rope to a sturdy-looking tree near the ledge and jumps off. He swings himself towards the carved buildings of the Western Air Temple, and rolls as he hits it. Iroh does the same, though Zuko was quite a bit more agile. 

As both gain their bearings, Iroh comments on the stunning view the Temple provides, and Zuko can’t believe that his uncle would say something like that, as if they were tourists that came for the view and not descendants of the man who ordered the armies that made the Temple lifeless now. But Zuko can’t say that to him, the comment could be taken as traitorous or disrespectful to a now deceased Fire Lord. 

Zuko tells him that the only view he’s interested in seeing is the Avatar in chains, and though there are a few more views he would like to see, namely his mom, or his home, he keeps those to himself. 

Iroh tells him that the Avatar hasn’t been seen for one hundred years, and that the chances of finding them here are very slim. As if Zuko didn’t know. He wants to yell, he really does, but Iroh had helped him with his training recently, and it would make Zuko feel guilty.

So, Zuko doesn’t acknowledge what his uncle said, instead telling him that they’ll scour the Air Temples, then the world. 

Iroh notices the non-answer, and addresses Zuko with his formal title. He says that it’s only been a few weeks, and that Zuko should really take some time to heal.

That does it for Zuko, and he yells at his uncle. He doesn’t care about the guilt he’ll feel in the moments after he finishes yelling. Zuko calls Iroh the laziest man in the Fire Nation, his words malicious. And untrue, Zuko reminds himself, and the guilt is already setting in. But Zuko continues to yell, saying that finding the Avatar is the only way to regain his honor, and so he will. 

Zuko storms away from his uncle, rushing through the hallways of the Air Temple.

* * *

Hours later, Zuko sits at the edge of one of the ledges somewhere in the Western Air Temple. A book lies next to him, worn down by years. Zuko had already looked through it. 

It was a book on how the Air Nomads raised their children. And it had brought Zuko to tears. The paragraphs that had caught his eye and he had read talked of the monks and nuns communally raising the kids with love and compassion and the  _ child’s _ best interests in their minds. 

Zuko couldn’t handle it. He had been told his whole life that the Air Nomads had been wiped out because they were the barrier that held the Fire Nation’s greatness and innovation back. But they weren’t. Zuko realized that the Fire Nation wasn’t any better than the Air Nomads, and that they had no right to kill every single one of them. If the Fire Nation doesn’t even treat their children well, the future of the nation itself, what else could they be doing wrong?

But no, Zuko thinks, those conclusions and facts are subjective, he’s just letting his unjust anger at his father cloud his judgement and interpretation of what he’s read. If Zuko had said any of that back in the Fire Nation, he’d be branded as a traitor and executed most likely. 

Then, Zuko hears footsteps and quickly composes himself. He hears his uncle’s voice behind him, saying that he’s found no sign of the Avatar. Now, Iroh is sitting next to him on the ledge, and he can clearly see Zuko’s eye that’s puffy and red from crying. 

Iroh asks his nephew what is upsetting him, and Zuko can’t handle keeping everything that he’s been feeling and thinking for these past few weeks. So he doesn’t keep it in anymore. All his traitorous thoughts that could get him executed back home are released into the abandoned Western Air Temple. He finishes his rant with his biggest secret, telling his uncle the fact about himself he had only told his mother. 

“I’m an airbender.” He conjures a mini-tornado in his palm to prove it, and watches as his uncle’s face processes all that he had said, the expressions changing as he seemingly goes through all that Zuko said. 

After what seems like forever, Iroh finally responds to Zuko. He says that he agrees with what his nephew has said, assures Zuko that his secret is safe and that he would never even consider telling anyone about it. 

And Zuko feels as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders, though only momentarily, but it is still such a relief to him that his uncle, the only member of his family that cared enough to stay with him in his banishment, doesn’t want to return him to the Fire Nation so they can execute him. 

The two sit on the ledge in the Western Air Temple for a while after that confession, and eventually go back to the ship. 

Zuko directs the crew to set sail for the Northern Air Temple.


	6. a promise of hope is enough to feel free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from "ready now" by dodie.
> 
> This is an extremely short chapter, I'm so sorry. I've been caught up in school and medical stuff these past weeks. There's gonna be a part two of this chapter where they actually go into the Northern Air Temple, but I wanted to post something and this was all I had. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, I really appreciate all the comments and kudos I've gotten on this. Some of the comments really get me thinking on certain aspects of where this is going. I'm gonna try and put credit in the end notes any details that come from people in the comments.)

In the weeks spent at sea between the Western Air Temple and the Northern Air Temple, Zuko observed the firebenders on his ship practice and train instead of shutting himself in his room and throwing himself into his research on the Air Nomads. Instead, Zuko watches the firebenders closely and replicates their movements at night. His uncle had told him that they could learn from other nations’ techniques, and Zuko could plausibly apply firebending techniques to successfully wield airbending. 

It was working so far, in the confines of his room. Zuko had no idea if it would ever succeed out in the open, and he’d never have the chance to try. That thought lingered in his mind as Iroh helped him, that all this training was useless and he would never get the chance to airbend anywhere other than the confines of his room in fear of retribution. 

Zuko still kept up with his training with the dao swords and the dagger, along with hand-to-hand combat. The moments when Zuko overpowers his opponent, he can forget how weak and worthless his father had made him feel. 

* * *

When Zuko knew that the ship was nearing the Northern Air Temple, he got binoculars out to see the Temple. He didn’t expect to see people flying around the Temple.

Zuko immediately goes to his uncle and urgently tells him of what he had seen, and his uncle abandons his Pai Sho match to see them for himself. When the two get to the helm of the ship, Zuko thrusts the binoculars into Iroh’s hands. Once he brings them to his eyes and adjusts to the different sight, Iroh’s mouth opens in surprise and his eyes widen. 

Iroh composes himself, and thinks through the best strategy to capture the Avatar if they find them. After a moment or two, Iroh proposes the idea that the two of them take one of the simpler boats stocked on the ship in case of emergency in non-military clothes, so as to not alert the people that they were coming and to possibly put the Avatar at ease so they could lure them into coming with the two.

Zuko takes a moment, mostly for show, to process the suggestion. He hadn’t thought of anything better than that, so he agrees with his uncle and tells the crew of the ship to dock soon rather than directly at the Northern Air Temple. 

Zuko then goes to his room on the ship to change his clothes, preparing himself mentally for possibly facing the one person that could earn him his honor and birthright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the previous chapter SeleneMoon commented about Zuko learning more about airbending as he goes through the Air Temples, and that inspired him finding the book at the Air Temple in the previous chapter, and will be the inspiration for any and all further scenes where Zuko finds bits of Air Nomad literature.
> 
> Demorit commented about Iroh helping Zuko develop his airbending technique, so that inspired the little bit in here about Zuko watching the firebenders closely and will be the inspiration for any further mentions of that nature.


	7. a promise of hope is enough to feel free: part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same title from the previous chapter, seeing as this is a part two. 
> 
> It's been about a month since when I last updated this, and I'm really very sorry about that. December has been a crazy month for me, with family and school things taking up so much time. I also took part in a secret Santa event for the Julie and the Phantoms fandom, I posted the work I did for that here if any of you want to check it out. One of the things I plan to do in the new year is write at least everyday no matter what, so hopefully I'll have more frequent updates. 
> 
> The panic attack tag that I added is very minor, and I don't even call it a panic attack in the story. I just wanted to put it there just in case.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

When Zuko and Iroh finished their trek up to the Northern Air Temple, both were exhausted. They had been climbing for hours in heavy clothing instead of the lightweight, heat resistant Fire Nation uniforms so as to not alarm whomever is inhabiting the Temple now. 

They had talked through what they would tell the people when they started to ask questions. They were uncle and nephew from a small town in the Earth Kingdom. Iroh’s name was Mushi and Zuko’s was Li, and they were fleeing from the violence and cruelty of the Fire Nation soldiers that had come into their town. If the Avatar was up in the Temple, then the two of them would convince them that they were needed now more than ever. Iroh and Zuko, after convincing the Avatar, would tell them that they have a boat and one of them would go ahead and make the preparations while the other stayed and led the Avatar into the trap. 

When Zuko and Iroh were not too far away from where they could enter the Temple, a boy glided down and came as close to them as he could while staying afloat. The boy called out to them and asked who they were. 

Iroh answered the boy with their fake names and identities: Mushi and Li, uncle and nephew. The boy responded with offering his name, Teo, and asked why they were coming to the Temple. Iroh answered again, reciting what he and Zuko had thought of to mask their identities, though he made his words sound natural and as if they had actually been forced from their homes by the cruelties of the Fire Nation’s invading armies. 

When Iroh was done explaining, Zuko butted into the conversation and pointedly asked Teo if he was an airbender. 

Teo answered that no, he wasn’t an airbender and that there aren’t any airbenders in the Temple because the Fire Nation wiped them out close to one hundred years ago. He says that everyone in the Northern Air Temple right now are refugees that fled from the Fire Nation’s war and that his dad is kind of their leader because he’s made so many improvements to the Temple. 

Zuko hides his disappointment so as to not cause suspicion, but Iroh picks up on the brief flash of it on his nephew’s face. 

Iroh asks Teo if he thinks that the two of them could stay at the Temple for a day or two to see if they would be able to call the Temple their temporary home until the dreadful war was over. Teo responds with enthusiasm, nodding fervently and saying that there would be no reason for their little community to turn away people in the same situation as them. Iroh then asks the boy to go up ahead of them and inform the other people of their arrival.

Once Teo had glided away and up to the Temple, Iroh turned to his nephew. Before he could get a word out, Zuko was already talking as loudly as possible without yelling and having his voice carry up to the temple. He asked his uncle what he was possibly thinking, telling the kid that they would stay and decide if they wanted to stay, even though they had no intention of doing so. 

Iroh patiently explained to his nephew that it would cause suspicion if they had told the boy that they would be leaving right after he informed them of the lack of airbenders in the Northern Air Temple, and that it wouldn’t hurt to look for any books on the airbenders’ culture or scrolls on airbending techniques while they were there. 

Zuko could see the reason behind his uncle’s words, and couldn’t argue with him pointlessly even if he wanted to because they had made their way to a semi-official entrance to the Northern Air Temple. 

The two were instantly greeted by ten or so people, all welcoming and kind to two people they thought were in a similar situation as them. They were brought to rooms where they could stay as long as they like. Once the people were satisfied with them settling into their rooms, the people invited Iroh and Zuko to come and talk with the other refugees. Iroh took their offer, while Zuko opted out of it in favor of exploring the Northern Air Temple by himself. 

As he was walking through the Temple, Zuko couldn’t help but notice the destruction and burn marks that were scattered throughout the Temple. Eventually, Zuko stumbled upon a narrow, cavernous part of the Temple, and couldn’t believe the sight that was in front of him. There were pipes sticking out of the walls on either side of him and machines scattered throughout the place, all emitting thick smoke. 

Zuko started to walk down the passageway, gazing at the walls marred with cracks from the many pipes jutting in and out of them. Faintly, Zuko can see that the walls had once been painted into murals. He guesses, from what he can see behind all the pipes and cracks, that the walls were once depicting the history of the Air Nomads. As he walked further through the room and examined what was left, the paint seemed to tell a story. 

Anger welled inside of him, and then guilt bubbled up and made Zuko feel utterly terrible. He kept thinking in circles about how much anger he was allowed to feel at the further destruction of a Temple that _his_ family had originally attacked. And then, Zuko couldn’t help but think about how he could’ve been sent to this Temple, if there wasn’t a war and his family wouldn’t exile or kill him just because of what element he could or could not bend. 

Then, Zuko just needs to get out of the room with the murals. It’s starting to get suffocating, standing among the history of a people that were wiped out by his ancestors. 

Zuko doesn't know where he's going, but he's running through the halls of the Northern Air Temple. Sometimes, he's encased in the hard yellowish walls and at others he's out in the open, air whipping around him. Eventually, Zuko tires himself out and stops at the entrance of a hallway. Breathing heavily, Zuko walks slowly down the hallway and stops to examine the ornate door at the end of it. The contraption on the large door looked like a lock. There were two intake horns on the winding and twisting wooden pipes that led to three shell-like structures.d Zuko didn't think he understood the lock completely, but he reasoned that it would probably only open with airbending, seeing as it was in an Air Temple. So, he steadied his breath and raised his arms, palms positioned toward the openings to the wooden pipes. Though not perfect, Zuko was able to manipulate the air into the pipes consistently enough so that the door would unlock and open. 

And when the door opened and the light from the hallway illuminated the room, Zuko gasped and stumbled backwards. Weapons and tools were strewn throughout the room, and Fire Nation insignias were all over everything—the walls, the weapons, banners that were hung around the room. Zuko couldn’t believe it, couldn’t comprehend how the Fire Nation felt the need to keep _weapons_ in a place where they completely wiped out an entire people. Then, Zuko’s running to find his uncle, needing someone else to affirm that what he just saw was _wrong_ and _absolutely horrible._

He found Iroh in a courtyard of sorts, not walled in at all. His uncle was playing Pai Sho with a young woman with a child in her lap, sleeping. Zuko stormed toward his uncle, and snapped at the woman that he needed to talk to his uncle now, and that she should find someone else to play with. 

Iroh apologizes to the woman, then lets himself be led by his nephew into one of the entrances near the courtyard they were in. He asks Zuko where he's going, but Zuko just responds by dismissing his uncle, saying that he'll see when they get there. 

Zuko lets his muscle memory mostly lead them back to the room, occasionally recognizing a symbol on the wall or a particular piece of architectural design in the ceiling or wall. When Zuko and Iroh made it to the room, Zuko gestured to the Fire Nation insignias and weapons. Iron didn't gasp audibly when he saw everything, but his mouth did open in surprise. 

After letting his uncle take it in for a moment, Zuko asked, with an air of superiority, if Iroh saw why he needed to see this. Iroh nodded at his nephew's words and turned his attention towards him. Seeing this, Zuko asked Iroh if he knew where Teo's dad was, as the boy had said earlier that he was a sort of leader among the refugees. 

Iroh told Zuko that he did know where he is, as the man had come through the courtyard area and said he was headed to his office to tinker. As the two wended their way through the Temple to where Iron had saw Teo's dad go, Iroh asked Zuko what he would do when they got to the office and confronted the man. 

Zuko took a moment to think about it, grateful that his uncle was letting him take the lead willingly on this, and thought of the possibilities. After a minute, Zuko told Iroh that he would ask about the room with the weapons and Fire Nation insignias, appropriately angered by it because they were told that the people here were also refugees and not from or working for the Fire Nation. If the man denies knowledge of it and is being truthful, then Zuko will have helped weed out a Fire Nation supported in what was supposed to be a safe space. If the man denies knowledge of the room and is lying, then Zuko will be able to tell and will demand answers. Hopefully, Zuko explains to Iroh, the man will just come clean about everything and apologize and then the two of them can leave. 

When the two made it to where Iroh had seen the man go, Zuko went ahead of his uncle and knocked on the door. Without waiting for a response, Zuko opened the door and walked in. The man was working on some sort of invention when the two came in, but was startled by their entrance and dropped what he was doing. A brief flash of confusion crossed the man’s face, and he asked if they were new. Iroh answered that yes, they were new, and that they were refugees like them. They had stumbled upon the Temple and saw people, so they came up and are now deciding if they want to live there. 

The man nods in understanding, and Zuko takes this moment to confront him about the room. Zuko says that he was walking throughout the Temple and stumbled upon an open door. He says that he went into the room and saw weapons and Fire Nation propaganda. 

The man freezes, eyes widening with recognition and fear. Though, after only a moment, he lies, saying that he had no idea that that was there. Zuko could tell, and was so enraged at the thought that this man had been somewhat leading a group of people that had been displaced _by_ the Fire Nation while actively making weapons _for_ the Fire Nation. Lost in that rage, Zuko wasn’t thinking and lashed out at the man, yelling words that he shouldn’t have yelled. 

_“I am the prince of the Fire Nation and you will answer me truthfully!”_

Once the words leave his mouth, Zuko regrets them and wants nothing more than to take them back. The man looks surprised, then reproachful and he asks if they're testing him, or if this is some sort of sick joke. 

Everyone in the room is confused after the question, Zuko and Iroh at the man's question and the man at the presence of the prince of the Fire Nation questioning him about his involvement with creating weapons for the Fire Nation. 

Iroh steps in then, telling both Zuko and the man to take a second to calm down. The man practically collapses into a chair and sighs deeply, seemingly mulling over the conversation. Zuko, however, doesn’t want to calm down and wants answers now. So, he asks the man what led him to make weapons for the Fire Nation in a level voice, knowing that if he yelled the response he would get would be negative or fearful. 

The man sighs again, then explains how he came to make weapons for the Fire Nation. He says that soon after he, his son, and the others from their town got there, a large group of Fire Nation soldiers found them and threatened to burn the Temple to the ground. The man said that he pleaded with the soldiers, begging them to spare them, and that the soldiers had asked what he could offer in return. Thinking of nothing else, the man explained, he offered his services in making weapons and tools for the Fire Nation. 

At the end of the explanation, Iroh has a look of sorrow on his face. Zuko scowls, berating himself on the inside that he would ever think that someone personally harmed by the Fire Nation would ever willingly help to make them better. 

He can’t take being in the room anymore, so he announces that he’ll be leaving for the ship and that Iroh can join him when he wants to. He then storms out of the room.

Iroh stays for a bit more, explaining to the man what Zuko has been through and what Iroh is trying to help him understand. He apologizes for their disruption. He promises that when things improve in the Fire Nation and someone better sits on the throne he will make sure that this group of refugees and every one like it will be thoroughly helped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! I appreciate all the kudos and comments you leave!


End file.
